Archive for Activities for Kids
Create a Literacy Rich Home–1
Posted by: | Comments(5/19/09 Note: This is a first draft of what I hope will be a longer article.)
In a literacy-rich household, both WORDS and the big WORLD itself are enjoyed by everyone.
Grown-ups and kids in a literacy-rich home know that life is about learning, thinking, sharing, and expanding their skills and interests. For the truth is, literacy is about books AND a whole lot more.
Here are five things to emphasize if you want to create that kind of home-life:
1) Talking and listening
2) Reading and watching
3) Writing and drawing
4) Creating and investigating
5) Enjoying and appreciating
This blog entry is about #1.
TALKING and LISTENING—Here’s my best advice:
Talk to kids from birth on. Chatter up a storm. (For example, even with a tiny baby, you can endlessly say things like, “You are a beautiful and healthy baby. I’m really enjoying watching you grow, and change, and learn!”)
Talk about processes, the order in which to do something, and how things work. (For example, for an infant, you can say, “Your body is working just the way it is supposed to. We take food in—you drink your bottle—and then our bodies take what they need to help us grow—and what’s not needed is pushed out as poop! Good work, body!”)
Name the feelings. When an emotion comes up, say the word for it. (Again, even with a very young child, try, “You sound like you’re angry that something’s hurting inside. I’m going to see what I can do to help you feel more comfortable.”)
Share your observations, even of the little things. (For example, “I just noticed what beautiful colors that rose has. It’s got bright yellow, then gold, and a little bit of white.”)
Use big words (and provide simple explanations if you get a “Huh?”).
Express positive attitudes, like these: We can learn from every experience, especially mistakes. I love you regardless. Let’s say what we’re grateful for. Let’s use our time wisely. Let’s plan ahead. It’s important to take good care of yourself.
Answer questions. They mean your child is learning to learn. What a great thing to support, even if it takes a little extra time. If you don’t know an answer, that’s fine. See if you and the child together can get an answer.
Play with words and sounds. Make up rhymes and raps. Say tongue twisters.
Tell stories. About your childhood. About your day. Great stories from books. About animals.
Listen with interest: (“I want to hear what you have to say.” “Tell me more…”)
Listen with questions: (“Why do you think…” is a good one to ask.)
Listen with follow-up: (“I was thinking about what you said yesterday…”)
Listen and check if you understood: (“What I heard you say was… Is that what you meant?”
Listen with an open heart: (Sometimes kids don’t need an answer, they just want to state what’s true for them. You don’t have to agree or advise. Just listen.)
Dear reader, what other advice would you add to this list?
Why Mary Poppins Left
Posted by: | CommentsOver the weekend I sat on the couch with Rose (age 7) and Calvin (age 4), watching them watch Mary Poppins for the first time. They knew the songs, of course, from “Dad’s computer” and sang along loudly with Mary and Burt.
But Mary Poppins is set in 1910 in imperial England. How does one explain (in the course of fast-moving scenes and continual puzzled why’s… from Rose), Mrs. Banks women’s rights sash across her bosom and her glee in leaving the children in the care of a nanny in order to “cast off the shackles of yesterday.”
Then there’s the issue of the cadre of uniformed servants in the household. What are they doing, and why is there so much glass in that house? And why was Mr. Banks was so “grumpy” all the time. What’s a chimney sweep? Why don’t we have a fireplace?
Calvin doesn’t like loud noises that he can’t control. Why is that guy always setting off the booming cannon? (Why, indeed?) Because he’s a little bit crazy.
Why did the man at the bank take Michael’s money? Why did the dad lose his job? (Try explaining a run-on-a-bank to a four-year-old. Try explaining the banking system to begin with—why it’s a good idea to put your money in the bank, and what compound interest is.) Why was the dad laughing after he lost his job? What’s funny about the joke about the man with one leg named Smith?
And after all was said and done, why did Mary Poppins leave Jane and Michael Banks?
“She said she was going to stay until the wind changes,” Rose declares with a bit of a pout.
“What do you think that means?” I ask.
The movie is over. (We’d watched the first half of the movie at night, and the second half on Sunday morning.) It’s time to put on shoes and walk the dog. The kids whizz their scooters while the dog and I tug-of-war over our pace. He does his business dutifully. Then right before we cross the last street back to the house, Rose calls out to me.
“I got it! When the dad lost his job, he got happy again. Mary Poppins meant that she’d stay until things got better. So that’s why she left.”
Mr. Banks did get his job back, you may recall, after he’d learned to enjoy children, wife, imagination, jokes, and song.
Perhaps there’s a message for our economy in there somewhere, you think?
Walking and Wondering…
Posted by: | CommentsYesterday walking home from a park with two scooter-riding kids, age 7 and 4, I used a Plus It! idea.
At a street corner, I said, “Let’s guess how many cement squares there are in the sidewalk between the beginning and end of this next block.”
I started the guessing and said 25 cement squares. Rose, age 7 and a first grader, said 31. Calvin, age 4, said 100. We started to count loudly.
In just a few squares, Rose declared, “I’m no good at estimating,” and changed her guess to 21, which was closer to what mine was.
“Don’t say that,” I said, impressed that she knew the word for the activity but a bit alarmed at her self-doubt.
Immediately she explained that in school she had guessed there were 60 somethings when the correct answer had been 100. And she repeated her conclusion that she wasn’t good at estimating, though she was clearly enjoying this activity.
I thought, Gee, how quickly children draw conclusions about what they can or can’t do well. My admonition to her not to say ‘I’m no good at…’ to herself was ignored.
I wondered what I could do or say that would open up the possibility that she could reconsider her conclusion. Hmm….
For it turned out that there were 49 cement squares in that block. Rose would have won the ‘contest’ if she’d stayed with her first answer.
